Surf Snowdonia bosses have vowed to win back trust and come back “bigger and better” after admitting being left embarrassed by a series of breakdowns that eventually saw the lagoon close early for winter.

The surfing lagoon in Dolgarrog revealed on Tuesday it was closing eight weeks early after its third problem in just over two months after opening to great acclaim on August 1 this year.

It saw up to 31 contracted seasonal staff laid off early and eight full time permanent workers made redundant at the lagoon which had employed 105 at its peak, including casual workers.

Operations director Andy Ainscough said letting down customers and staff had been very hard but he vowed they would never walk away from the multi-million pound scheme and that they will come back stronger

He said they will now spend the next six months rectifying the engine issues that caused the final major breakdown and intensively test the Wavegarden technology facility before opening it to the public again.

They will pump additional funding into improving the offer around the surfing lagoon to make it more family friendly - looking at a skate and bike park and an indoor facility alongside its existing plan for a ‘Crash and Splash’ facility.

Andy Ainscough at Surf Snowdonia

Speaking to the Daily Post, Andy said: “We have to win back trust, the first breakdown people said fair enough, ‘it is brand new, there are teething issues’, then there is the second time and by the third it is getting embarrassing.

“We now need to get this right.

“People are booking trips here, they are coming from far afield, even as far as Australia.

“They are coming here for this and when we break down it is very frustrating for them.

The proof will be in the pudding

“If we make waves in February and March and learn more about the machine and being consistent then that is the only way we can build that trust, the proof will be in the pudding.”

He said: “This is a long term project, we are certainly not walking away from this thing.

“We will invest more capital this year, that is our money, we can make this work.

“We remain 100% committed, we have invested our money in this and will invest more capital during the period when the lagoon is closed.”

He said the final problem saw the main engine ‘burnt out’ and this will now be sent back by Wavegarden to engine suppliers Leitner for modifications.

Andy said: “We are hoping we will start fitting in January. This time we will do a soft launch, the sort of thing we never quite had chance to do this year, do that throughout March and then open to the public in April.

“We also want to make modifications to the beginners bays to make the experience better and do some other functional work so the water settles quicker.

"We will carry on with the Crash and Splash.

We will come back bigger and better

“We will make changes and we are confident in the future that this will run all year with the lagoon having a shorter winter closure period.

“We will definitely come back bigger and better - all the focus was on surfing this year, but we want to add more family elements. A play park next to the cabins, possibly a skate element, perhaps an indoor for facility for trampolining, a bike track next to the site.

“We will press the corporate side and accommodation, we will get it right.

“We are in touch with the Welsh Government and will speak to them if we are looking to add more elements to the park.”

He said they had not asked for funding to support them because of the loss of income from the closures.

In terms of staff he believes in the long term they will have around 70 people.

Andy added that telling staff they were being laid off had been the hardest part but he hoped that many would return despite the disappointing end to this season.

He said: “People have rightly been disappointed but we have also received a lot of support, it has been humbling.”

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